Morpheus and Hermes
by amy1oM-InnitMarvelous
Summary: This isn't a true crossover but instead it's an attempt to fuse the Leverage characters into the Inception universe. Written for a Leverageland challenge!


**AN: **This was written for Leverageland Heist 4 Challenge 23 **One For the Movies** where we had to mesh/fuse _Leverage_ with a movie of our choice. I picked _Inception_... I don't either _Leverage_ or _Inception_ by the way!

0o0

The metal top was small, cold, and smooth to the touch. He had studied it thousands of times, was intimately familiar with its physical characteristics, and how it spins. He leaned forward in his seat, set the top to spinning on the end table before him, and picked up the gun from the table. He then waited to see if the top would eventually stop spinning within the time he knew it should because if it didn't, then he'd use the gun to take care of it.

Nathan Ford closed his eyes only after the metal top had finished its dance, as once more he had been reassured about his bleak reality. He laid the gun down again. The wish for this to be a dream instead of that reality flashed through his mind because if he were still dreaming, he would have been free to indulge to much drink as he wanted.

Staring at the now empty glass in his hand, he gave into the temptation not a second later, wanting the blissful release from the gnawing pain and loneliness brought on by the separation from his son. At the very second the glass reached his lips, his phone began to ring, its ring tone signaling someone special was calling.

"Hey, Sam!"

"Hi, Daddy."

"Hey there how are you doing, buddy?"

"Okay, I guess."

"You're just okay?" He forced himself to sound as normal as possible.

"Yeah, just okay. Daddy, when are you coming back home?"

"I know, buddy, but I can't. Not for awhile anyway, remember?"

"But why?"

"Because I'm away working, remember?"

"Uh huh. Daddy, is Mommy there too?"

"Buddy, we talked about this before. Mommy's not here anymore."

"I miss you, Daddy!"

"I miss you too, buddy." So much it _hurts_!

Sam talked with him for five more minutes before his grandmother brought an end to the conversation. "You be good, Sam. I'll be sending you some presents soon with your grandfather, okay?"

"Okay!"

"I love you,Sam."

"I love you too, Daddy. Bye!"

"Bye, buddy."

The loneliness did not have a chance to reassert itself within his heart because at the very moment he heard the dial tone on the phone there was also a knock at his room's door. After a quick glance at his watch, he opened the door, and with a nod to the person on the other side he went to gather his belongings.

"Our ride is waiting for us on the roof." Eliot Spencer stated simply as he watched him. Once he spotted a half empty scotch bottle on the end table, he began sizing Nate's sobriety status too before asking, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?"

"Because Maggie showed up during the dream job." He pointed to the bottle, "Because you've been drinking again when you know we'll have to get out of here soon."

"I've already said I was sorry about your leg, and I'm not apologizing again. As for the other, I only had one drink and that's all." When he saw clear doubt in the point man's eyes he added, "It's the truth because even though I thought about having more, Sam called." Spencer looked anything but convinced so he changed the subject. "Where's Nash?"

"I haven't seen him since split up earlier. Did you want to wait for him?"

Nate started for the door as he talked, Eliot following him."No, since we were supposed to deliver Saito's expansion plans to IYS Engineering over two hours ago. They've probably figured out we've failed by now, so it's time we disappeared."

Spencer waited until they reached the roof to ask, "Where are you headed to?"

"Buenos Aires, Lima maybe. I'm going to lie low there, maybe feel out a job when the dust from this botched job settles down. What about you?"

"I'm headed to the States, I think."

"Send my regards."

They were nearing the helicopter that was supposed to fly them to the private airport and their flight out of Japan to find one of Saito's security standing outside the door. Without a word he opened the door to reveal a tied up Nash in one seat and Saito sitting across from him. "He tried to sell you out, thinking he could make a bargain with me in exchange for his life." He nodded at his security, who held out a gun in Nate's direction. "So I offer you the satisfaction."

Nate shook his head. "No, that isn't how I deal with things."

"I make the same offer to you, Mr. Spencer. His life is yours if you want it."

"My answer is the same as Ford's."

"Very well." Saito nodded to two men who pulled Nash out of the helicopter from the other side, and as the remaining three men watched he was dragged off the roof .

"What will you do with him?" Nate asked, as the helicopter lifted off.

"Release him so IYS Engineering can do whatever they want with him."

"What do you want from us?" Nate asked.

"Inception. Is it possible?"

"Of course it's not!" Eliot shot back, not giving Nate a chance to answer.

"If you can steal information from someone's mind, why can't you plant an idea there instead?"

Spencer was quick to reply, "All right here's me planting an idea in your mind. I say, 'Don't think about pretzels.' Now what are you thinking about?"

"Pretzels."

"Exactly, but it's not your idea, because you know I gave it to you. The subject's mind can _always_ trace the origin of the idea, and that makes true inspiration impossible to fake."

"Actually that's not true," Nate interjected.

Saito looked at him. "Can you do it?"

"Are you offering me a choice? Because I can always find my own way to settle things with IYS."

"Then you do have a choice."

"Then I'm walking away from this."

The helicopter touched down at that moment, and Saito told the two men to tell the waiting plane's crew where they wanted to go. But he wasn't finished with them yet because as they exited he called out, "Hey, Mr. Ford!" Nate looked back at him, "How would you like to go home to America? To your son?"

"That can't be fixed by you or anyone else."

"Just like inception."

Eliot touched his arm, "Ford, come on. We should walk away from this."

Nate shrugged him off and took two steps back towards the helicopter. "How complicated is the idea?"

"It should be simple enough," Saito replied.

"No idea is simple when you need to plant it in someone else's mind."

"My main competitor is a very sick old man who will die soon. He has one son who will control his corporation. I need him to decide to break up his father's empire."

Eliot growled, "Nate, I'm telling you we should walk away from this right now."

Nate ignored him, focusing on Saito. "If I were to do this... if I even could do this could you guarantee you could fix things so I could get home? How do I know you can pull that off?"

"You don't but I can. So do you want to take the chance or so you want to always be on the run and never be a part of your son's life again? Do you want to die alone?" He watched for Nate's answer and at his nod he added, "Assemble your team, Mr. Ford, and choose your people more wisely this time."

As the helicopter took off, Eliot snarled one last time. "I know how much you want to go home but this isn't going to be possible to pull off. It can't be done."

"It can be done. You just have to go deep enough."


End file.
